The all-new, state-of-the art museum, which opened to the public last year, houses the historic treasures of the state of Colorado displayed in new high-tech, interactive exhibits designed to tell compelling stories for a family audience.  As with most cultural venues, the History Colorado Center faced the challenge of limited budgets and resources to both operate efficiently, find new ways to attract and engage visitors as well as effectively compete for their leisure time and dollars. 

With the program in place, History Colorado needed to understand the deep insights generated from visitor attendance to more effectively target and serve family audiences.  In collaboration with IBM Business Partner BrightStar Partners, the History Colorado Center deployed IBM Big Data analytics in concert with the roll out of their new POS system. 

The Center can now quickly analyze data in real time, generated from admissions, programs, merchandise, food, and membership sales to understand consumer preferences and identify buying trends.  In addition, they are able to identify patterns of interest ranging from when retail sales peak to what exhibits attract the most traffic.   Based on these insights, History Colorado employees are creating strategies to increase repeat attendance.

Previously, the Center was only able to look at their visitation in terms of the type of ticket sold.  Now, the Center can track not only how many tickets were sold, but they know that more than 40 percent of their visitors are coming as families, a remarkably high percentage for a history museum.  This insight is being used across the organization from marketing and membership, to education and exhibits, to development and fund raising.   All are able to use the data to make informed decisions and develop a sustainable business plan. 

Center employees and management now have a single view of data that provides insight and an "at a glance" view of its business across ticketing, retail and food segments. The museum is also leveraging IBM Big Data analytics, along with tweets and Facebook comments to develop personalized experiences for its visitors, a strategy expected to increase consumer traffic and visitor engagement.   Museums such as the History Colorado Center are turning to IBM Big Data analytics to help discover innovative ways to engage visitors, manage their resources, market effectively and plan their visitor experience like never before.

"We asked ourselves, why is this institution important? And we realized that History Colorado can help visitors understand the present in the context of the past and to inform decision-making for the future," said Kathryn Hill, History Colorado COO, "We have a unique role to play in building a better Colorado, to do that we have to get people in the door. That's what IBM is helping us to do."

For more information on the History Colorado Center, please visit http://www.historycoloradocenter.org
For more information on IBM Business Partner BrightStar Partners, please visit http://www.brightstarpartners.com/.
For more information on IBM Midmarket Business, please visit http://www.ibm.com/midmarket/us/en/.

Lizette Kodama
IBM External Relations
646-675-0750

SOURCE IBM